Sweet Nothings

Eunice Johnson founder of the Ebony Fashion Show died Monday.

Mrs. Johnson has always been a woman ahead of her time, a true visionary. Mrs. Johnson received her B.A. degree in Sociology, with a minor in Art, from Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama. She earned her master's degree in Social Work from Loyola University in Chicago. In addition, Mrs. Johnson took courses in studies of the Great Books at the University of Chicago. She also studied Journalism at Northwestern University and Interior Decorating at the Ray-Vogue School of Design, which is now the Ray School of Design.

She had been the director and producer of the Ebony Fashion Fair since 1961. The traveling high fashion charity event that showcases black designers and models is staged in nearly 200 cities each year. Mrs. Johnson made a tremendous impact on the fashion industry, showcasing the best in style on African-American models of various shapes, sizes and skin tones.Along with her husband, Johnson developed a popular makeup and skin-care line — Fashion Fair Cosmetics — specifically for women of color. The products are sold in many high-end department stores.

She had been the director and producer of the Ebony Fashion Fair since 1961. The traveling high fashion charity event that showcases black designers and models is staged in nearly 200 cities each year. Mrs. Johnson made a tremendous impact on the fashion industry, showcasing the best in style on African-American models of various shapes, sizes and skin tones.Along with her husband, Johnson developed a popular makeup and skin-care line — Fashion Fair Cosmetics — specifically for women of color. The products are sold in many high-end department stores.

She was a secretary-treasurer of Johnson Publishing, which produces JET and Ebony, two of the longest-running black-oriented magazines in the country. These magazines were once the only place where black people were celebrated. The magazines chronicled the struggles of segregation, the civil rights movement and more recently the candidacy of Barack Obama. Mrs. Johnson did it all with style and grace and we will never see another like her.” the publisher said.